This week Hindus around the world celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors. Holi is a springtime celebration observed on the last full moon of the lunar month. Revelers traditionally throw bright colored powders at friends and strangers alike as they celebrate the arrival of spring, commemorate Krishna's pranks, and allow each other a momentary freedom—a chance to drop their inhibitions and simply play and dance. Gathered here are images of this year's Holi festival from India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Holi 2017: The Festival of Colors
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Read moreA girl reacts as colored water is thrown on her face while celebrating Holi, the Festival of Colors, in Mumbai, India, on March 13, 2017. #
Shailesh Andrade / Reuters -
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Read moreIndian Hindu devotees are sprayed with colored water by heir to the Kalupur Swaminarayan Temple Lalji Maharaj Shri Vrajendraprasdaji Maharaj as they celebrate the Holi festival at the Swaminarayan Temple in Ahmedabad on March 13, 2017. #
Sam Panthaky / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreHindu devotees throw colored powder on each other inside Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan, India, on March 8, 2017. #
Manish Swarup / AP -
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Read moreA student of Rabindra Bharati University, with her face smeared in colored powder, during celebrations inside the university campus in Kolkata, India, on March 9, 2017. #
Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters -
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Read moreA man with green powder on his face rides his motorcycle during Holi in Delhi, India, March 13, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
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Read morePeople release colored smoke as they take part in "kapda phaar" (cloth tearing) Holi, celebrations in Pushkar in the desert state of Rajasthan, India, on March 13, 2017. #
Himanshu Sharma / Reuters -
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Read moreIndian students play with colored powders as they celebrate Holi during a special function in Kolkata on March 12, 2017. #
Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreIndian students play with colored powders as they celebrate Holi in Kolkata on March 12, 2017. #
Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreIndian revelers play with colors during Holi celebrations in Chennai on March 13, 2017. #
Arun Sankar / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreIndian Hindu men smeared with colors play Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, at the Gopinath temple, in Vrindavan, India, on March 9, 2017. #
Bernat Armangue / AP -
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Read moreA boy with his face smeared in colored powder, during Holi, organized by " Colombo Indians", in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on March 12, 2017. #
Dinuka Liyanawatte / Reuters -
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Read moreClothes thrown by revelers hang from overhanging cables as they dance during celebrations to mark Holi in Allahabad, India, on March 13, 2017. #
Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP -
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Read moreIndian youth play with colors during Holi celebrations in Chennai on March 12, 2017. #
Arun Sankar / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreIndian students celebrate Holi during a special function in Kolkata on March 12, 2017. #
Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreA Hindu devotee is covered in colored powder as he stands outside a temple during the religious festival of Holi in Vrindavan, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, March 8, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
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Read moreA Nepalese reveler is tossed into the air as they celebrate the Holi spring festival in Kathmandu on March 12, 2017. #
Prakash Mathema / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreA Hindu priest throws colored powder on devotees inside Banke Bihari temple during Holi festival celebrations in Vrindavan, India, on March 10, 2017. #
Manish Swarup / AP -
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Read moreHindu devotees celebrate Holi in Nandgaon village, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, on March 7, 2017. #
Adnan Abidi / Reuters -
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Read moreA Hindu devotee is covered in colored powder as he stands outside a temple in Vrindavan, India, on March 8, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
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Read moreIndian girls take a selfie during Holi in Mumbai, India, on March 13, 2017. #
Rafiq Maqbool / AP -
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Read moreA girl reacts as colored powder is applied on her face while celebrating Holi in Mumbai, India, on March 13, 2017. #
Shailesh Andrade / Reuters -
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Read morePeople take part in Holi in Delhi, India, on March 13, 2017. #
Cathal McNaughton / Reuters -
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Read moreIndian revelers, faces smeared with colored powder, dance during celebrations to mark Holi in Allahabad, India, on March 13, 2017. #
Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP -
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Read moreAn Indian man is smeared with colored powder during the Holi celebrations in Mumbai on March 13, 2017. #
Punit Paranjpe / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreIn this Thursday, March 9, 2017, photo, an Indian widow smeared with colors celebrates Holi at the Gopinath temple, in Vrindavan, India. Up to just a few years ago, the festival was forbidden for Hindu widows. Like hundreds of thousands of observant Hindu women, they would have been expected to live out their days in quiet worship, dressed only in white, with their very presence being considered inauspicious for all religious festivities. #
Manish Swarup / AP -
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Read morePakistani Hindu children celebrate Holi in Karachi on March 12, 2017. #
Rizwan Tabassum / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreHindu devotees take part in the religious festival of Holi in Nandgaon village, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, on March 7, 2017. #
Adnan Abidi / Reuters -
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Read moreAn Indian woman with her face smeared with colored powder takes part in Holi celebrations in Mumbai on March 13, 2017. #
Punit Paranjpe / AFP / Getty
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